PALU, Indonesia (AP) – rescue crews were struggling Sunday to reach victims in several large coastal cities of Indonesia, which were hit by an earthquake and a tsunami, and the authorities fear the number of 832 confirmed deaths to grow. Since the area continues virtually isolated by damage to roads and telecommunications lines, used military aircraft and commercial to deliver aid and supplies to the city of Palu, on Sulawesi Island, among others.
But there was need for the search for possible survivors buried in collapsed buildings, included an eight-story hotel in Palu where voices in the rubble could be heard heavy equipment. A 25-year-old woman was found alive at night in the ruins of the hotel Roa-Roa, according to the national search and rescue agency, which published photos of the survivor in a stretcher. Nearly all those killed by the double disaster on Friday are recorded in Palu. You still need to assess damage and losses in the Regency of Donggala, Sigi and Parigi Moutong, where live together some 1.2 million people.
It is believed that the number of dead will rise because there are still many bodies under the rubble, many still not are recovered, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho agency spokesman.
Corpses covered with blue and yellow tarpaulins are lying in the streets of Palu, and authorities said that they excavated a mass grave for at least 300 bodies.
It is not known precisely when the funeral would take place, but “it should be as soon as possible for reasons of health and religion,” said Willem Rampangilei, director of the national agency of disaster mitigation. The majority of the inhabitants of Palu are Muslims. Cries from under the rubble of the hotel Roa-Roa seemed to have been silenced on Sunday afternoon. The authorities estimate that there could be about 50 people in the place.
New balance #Sulawesi, Indonesia – earthquake/tsunami dead 1.203 (tendency to increase)
– 540 wounded
–
16.732 displaced – 1,536 367 affected
– 95 villages affected to the West of Sulawesi
– 839 affected villages.
– works to restore electric power. pic.twitter.com/LnoiaiA6Xk— EarthQuakesTime (@EarthQuakesTime) October 1, 2018 “we are doing our best. Time is very important to save lives,”said Muhammad Syaugi, head of the national search and rescue team. “The heavy machinery is on its way”. Metro TV showed images of a dozen uniformed rescuers of Orange climbing to the rubble of the modest business hotel with a stretcher that moved the body of a victim.
Photo: AP other lifeguards in Palu were trying to free a 15-year-old girl trapped under a sheet of cement in his house, which collapsed during the earthquake of magnitude 7, with his family inside 5.Con legs immobilized under the heavy rubble Nurul Istikharah was trapped next to the bodies of the mother and her niece. Rescuers were trying to control the filtration of water from a pipe for fear that the girl drowned.
Istikharah was unconscious during part of work to release it, but rescuers were still talking to try to keep it awake. Others offered food and water. The Indonesian President Joko Widodo toured Palu on Sunday and said that rescuers were struggling to reach the victims because of the lack of heavy equipment.
There are many challenges, he said. We have to do many things soon, but the conditions do not permit us to do so.
He said that the authorities sent more heavy machinery so rescuers can help to recover more victims on Monday. The affected areas also need medical supplies, fuel, drinking water and personal. It’s the natural disaster in lashing Indonesia, which suffers from earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis frequently due to its location on the belt of fire of the Pacifico.en December 2004, a powerful earthquake of magnitude 9.1 off the island Sumatra, in Western Indonesia, it triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. In August, a powerful quake on the island of Lombok 505 people killed. Donggala, the place closest to the epicentre of the earthquake, aerial images from MetroTV showed damage to beaches and buildings on Sunday. Some buildings in the city were severely damaged, but much of the damage appeared limited to the coastal area. In this note: deaths dead Tsunami Earthquake Indonesia tragedy
